Is it possible to truly move from sick care to health care? This year at Reuters Pharma USA, Co-founder and President of MyHealthTeam and Chief Patient Officer of Swoop Eric Peacock, Eli Lilly SVP U.S. Neuroscience Laura Steele, PhRMA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael Ybarra, Nestlé Health Science President Luis Briz tackled this important question. The speakers touched on everything from the hurdles faced by preventative diagnostics to how policies and systems shape treatment access.
In many conditions, reaching patients who are under diagnosed or under treated makes an impact if you can reach them early. By educating audiences on the importance of health and lifestyle choices, we can influence patients to overcome stigma, fear, or financial issues to get diagnosed earlier and access treatment faster.
Harnessing the power of data and AI responsibly, is revolutionizing patient outreach. “We’re always trying to figure out how we can help patients see around the next corner,” Eric said. “All of the investment in data and AI to match the right message to the right audience is not only good for pharma marketers but also good for patients.” This approach, when implemented with strict privacy and compliance measures, enables Swoop to deliver messaging across multiple channels before key health milestones.
Working in Alzheimer’s, Laura sees the many hurdles in between innovations for preventative care and acceptance by medical systems and insurers. Preventative care innovations add value for patients, society, and the economy, but it takes years for coverage to match innovation.
“Time is brain in Alzheimer’s,” Laura said. “The earlier you can potentially treat patients the more impact you can have in slowing the progression and maybe even preventing symptoms from occurring. We all need to understand, identify, and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's.”
Brands that need to drive patients for diagnostic testing should take messages directly to patients, and reach them in their language, Laura advised.
Government policies can also impact where manufacturers invest research dollars, and PhRMA’s seen a 70% decrease in investments toward small molecules since the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
“The Inflation Reduction Act put price controls on medicines, and it disproportionately impacted small molecule medicine that often come in pill or tablet form,” Michael said. “Those are the types of things that are often used early in a disease to delay progress. We’re really focused on fixing that pill penalty.”
The pill penalty seems to be impacting drug development for oncology and neurology disproportionately because small molecules can cross the blood-brain barrier better than large molecules.
“What pharma can do right now, is go to the patient directly and hear from them. It’s amazing to see what one quote from a patient can do to end debates about what patients need,” Eric said. Innovation in oncology, cardiovascular disease, and stroke were supported by public awareness and policies, and Eli Lilly sees the need for that kind of coordination for Alzheimer’s.
An important and cost-effective aspect of preventative care is vaccines. Dr. Michael Ybarra shared that he learned of several diseases in medical school that he’s never seen in practice because of vaccinations, including measles and chicken pox. Educating patients and caregivers about the power of vaccines continues to be an important mission for manufacturers.
“We’re seeing declining rates of HPV associated cancers in young people because of the ways those vaccines have been rolled out,” Michael said. “The data shows vaccination can offset and decrease cancer.” He shared his experience taking care of sick and dying patients from COVID-19 in 2020 and recalled how medical research and vaccines brought the pandemic under control.
To reach patients, pharma brands should start where people spend their time such as social media, patient communities, and CTV. But not all patients with a condition are the same. Someone with a new diagnosis is markedly different from someone on their third treatment in seven years. Savvy brands are using predictive models to reach the exact right audience in every channel they use to consume media, with a personalized message for their journey.
How to afford medications is one of the most common questions Eric sees on MyHealthTeam. Around 80 percent of patients don’t know about copay assistance or don’t know they can access these programs. “Even Lebron James can get copay assistance,” Eric said. “Anyone with commercial insurance can get it, but patients either don’t know about it or assume it is only for the poor.”
Preventing a chronic condition, a co-morbid condition, or progression of a disease takes concerted effort from patients, payers, pharma brands, and physicians. New data models and diagnostic tests can predict and address illnesses before they progress, but decision-makers across the healthcare system need to participate in clearing the path between patients and the right treatment.
It's clear that the future of healthcare marketing lies at the intersection of patient-first innovation and data-driven strategies. At Swoop, we're at the forefront of this evolution, leveraging our expertise to drive meaningful change in the industry.
Our commitment to harnessing the power of data and AI responsibly aligns perfectly with the industry's move towards more personalized, efficient patient outreach. Through our custom DTC solutions at scale and predictive audience capabilities, we're enabling pharma brands to reach the right patients with the right message at the right time.